Last year, a hacker managed to gain access to the internal messaging systems at OpenAI and steal details about the design of the company’s artificial intelligence technologies, according to a report by the New York Times. The hacker obtained information from discussions in an online forum where employees discussed OpenAI’s latest technologies. However, they did not breach the systems where OpenAI develops and houses its AI technologies, including the popular ChatGPT.
OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft Corp, has not yet responded to requests for comment on the incident. Executives at OpenAI notified employees and the company’s board about the breach in an all-hands meeting in April of last year, but chose not to disclose the news publicly as no customer or partner information had been compromised. They believed the hacker was a private individual without ties to a foreign government and did not see the breach as a national security threat.
Despite this incident, OpenAI has previously disrupted covert influence operations that tried to use its AI models for deceptive activities on the internet. Concerns about the potential misuse of AI technology have prompted the Biden administration to consider implementing regulations to protect advanced AI models from countries like China and Russia. In a global meeting, 16 companies developing AI have pledged to prioritize the safe development of the technology as regulators work to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation and emerging risks.